Nathan LamA Programmer’s Dream
16 Jan 2016
In a sense, programmer’s block is similar to writer’s block where “A writer may run out of inspiration, or be distracted by other events”. In contrast to writer’s block, however, programmer’s block occurs when a developer or engineer has too many ideas and is distracted by attempting to design and implement all of the ideas into his/her design. The ability to create and manipulate one’s limitless imagination enables developers and engineers in this intriguing field to bring fantasy to life. Nowadays, developers have unrestricted access to more tools, methodologies, and techniques than in the past, as the open source community is a perfect example of this endless span of information.
The infinite amount of ideas that can be implemented and showcased to the world is what lured me into this lucrative world of text, brackets, and semicolons. Studying software engineering has opened my eye to the world around me and has heightened my curiosity of the endless possibilities of programming. One of the biggest differences between software development compared to other fields is the highly-iterable nature of the work. Tools and workflows have evolved to take advantage of this method of implementing new features. The capability to transform text into seemingly magical programs that enable a culture of knowledge, innovation, and collaboration among the community influenced me to study software engineering. With the ability to make an impact through ideas, the possibility to educate others about technology, and most importantly, the capability to build technology for good causes, I hope one day I’ll be able to use my position and knowledge to make a positive impact in the community and in the world.
As I move forward, my long-term goal is to expand my knowledge and obtain hands-on-experience in the areas of embedded programming and artificial intelligence. I believe this growing subsection of software engineering has limitless possibility to positively impact the lives of others. With new innovative technology becoming increasingly relevant and even a necessity in our everyday lives, I hope to build software to improve the lives of everyday people. However, that is the dream in the future. As of now, perhaps there are now too many ideas, and too many projects to implement. As opposed to not knowing what to write in writer’s block, a dilemma occurs in programming where there are too many projects to pursue and not enough focus. Although there may be too many ideas, I will begin with one idea at a time. As always, just build it.